Facebook has gone red as users swapped their profile pictures with the Human Rights Campaign logo as the Supreme Court heard arguments about gay marriage. “This is pretty much the greatest idea since stuffed crust pizza and we’re just blown away by all the support it’s receiving,” wrote Perez Hilton.

the best ones are inspired by Mark Rothko. The artist was not gay [link mine]. But his fanatical devotion to the arrangement of hues is testament to the simple power of color. That’s what we are seeing today. The simplicity of the meme is enabling people — gay and straight — to express their solidarity for a cause.

But given Rothko’s traditional view of marriage, the painter — who once said “Marriage is an impossible situation for an artist to engage in” — is an unlikely champion for the cause of gay marriage.

When he wasn’t brooding (or even when he was), Rothko dominated his wife. “She was kind of in Marcus’ shadow at that time,” said Howard Sachar. “If there was an area where Marcus did his art work, Edith would have a little corner — very little of the places they had was devoted to what she wanted to do.” Socially and intellectually, “Mark tended to put her down.” When his painter friends visited, the attitude was: “the little woman — keep her in the back room while we boys talk about what is art and why.”